


Moving Places and Spaces

by Lazchan



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29990430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: Daine muses on where and what's she to do next; Numair comes to her with an idea.
Relationships: Numair Salmalín/Veralidaine Sarrasri
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Moving Places and Spaces

Daine looked up the nameplate in front of the set of rooms that Numair used while he was at the palace. Would he be feeling like he had to stay because she was here and she worked with the Riders? She didn't want to hold him down and she also didn't want to see him gone a lot of the time at his tower near the Swoop. It wasn't like it was a  _ long _ trip, especially if either one of them was shape-changed and flew the distance, but it was still… a distance. Daine was finding out that she didn't want Numair and her to have much distance at all right now. They had enough of it while all the fighting was going on. 

She leaned against the door, resting her head as if she could gather all of Numair's knowledge through the wood of the door, knowing she wouldn't get an answer and she wanted one. She wanted things to be easy, but when had it ever been easy so far?  _ Da would say that it's good that it's a struggle, 'cause we're growing and learning and all.  _ She wrinkled her nose at the thought and when she heard footsteps behind her, she whirled around and pressed her back up against the door, trying to look as casual as possible as Numair came into view. She was trying to go for 'been here all along like this' and not like 'trying to meld forehead with door.' She wasn't sure she succeeded and then realized it didn't matter at the warm, sweet smile that Numair gave her when he saw her. 

"Magelet," he stroked a curl away from her face, fingers lingering. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the gentle touch. "I just finished speaking with Jonathan and he had an interesting proposal for us if you're interested in it." His eyebrows rose and she blinked, straightening a little and trying to not lean into his touch  _ quite _ so hard. She wasn't a cat, after all, and shouldn't be seeking pets. His faint proud look said he hadn't missed the way she had tried to lean in when he pulled his hand away to unlock his door. 

His words penetrated a moment later and she blinked up at him. "Both of us?" she asked in confusion. "I can see how he'd want to talk to you and all, but …" she tilted her head and followed him into the room, him taking both of their cloaks--she hadn't yet shed hers--and tossed them to float to the hooks. There was one specifically for her now and her cheeks flushed a little at how happy such a simple thing made her feel. "It's not like I can offer more than what I usually do." 

He grinned and tapped her nose. "But you can offer a lot more than you could and what you think you can," he said cheerfully. "How would you like to work with your humble servant teaching the pages about immortals and wild magic?" 

She gaped at him, astonished that the king would even think of her for such a role, that Numair wanted her to work with him. Her thoughts swam in a myriad of directions, scattering like a school of fish if she tried to pin down a specific one. "I'm not smart enough to teach a bunch of pages," she protested. "They're all noble-born and probably know a lot more than me, Numair."

"They also start at ten years old," he said dryly, tugging her to sit down next to him on the couch in the main room. "They don't know nearly as much as they think they do and you're a lot smarter and capable than you think you are. You may not be as academic as I am…." His voice trailed off and his eyes twinkled with the joke and she barely held back the snort. No one was as academically minded as he was; he'd get lost in tangents from some ancient tome for days and had to be snuck food in between him reading bits of dusty paper.

"I.. but …" she rubbed the back of her head, but he had a point. She did feel confident that she knew more than a child, even one that probably had all sorts of tutors and everything. "I do want to make sure that they know all the truth about them," she allowed. "And especially the good and the bad and what to do with them…" She could see him relax, tension moving out of his lanky frame. He had been worried she would outright refuse. 

"That's it," he nodded eagerly. "And you can teach them about how to deal with the People properly. How to take care of them or use them in terms of scouting and other such matters. They could treat them like the intelligent creatures they are."

"The pages or the animals?" she teased and he laughed and kissed her cheek. 

"I'm guessing that you're considering the idea?" he asked. "You wouldn't have to start right away; we would come in later in their academics, once they've gotten a good grasp on a lot of the basics." He looked her over. "You'd be a good teacher, sweetheart. I believe in you."

She flushed and hid her face behind her hair a little. It still meant a lot to hear such praise from him. He wouldn't say it unless he meant it, no matter how sweet they were on each other. The  _ king _ trusted her to teach the pages, boys and possibly girls one day, to be fighters and defenders of the realm. It would be a great deal different than teaching the Riders archery, but she had taught before…

"Does this mean we're going to stay here?" she asked, looking around the set of rooms that was slowly becoming a combination of the two of them, even if her stuff was peppered in here and there with his understandably larger collection. "I mean, both of us--instead of your tower…" 

"Just until the summer when the pages go on their summer camp," he nodded. "Then the two of us can go home together…" he stopped all of a sudden and the tip of his nose flushed with embarrassment. 

"Home?" her voice squeaked. "You already think of the tower as home for the both of us? You won't mind me being there, too?" she asked. 

"Of course," he said gently, cupped her face with one large hand. "If you want to, that is," he said carefully. "I told you that I wanted to marry you, magelet. That hasn't changed at all." 

"You'll need to do all sorts of things to still convince me," she grinned up at him, nuzzling his hand. "I don't know how very good you've been, after all." She considered as he opened his mouth. "Or very bad. I s'pose we'll see as it goes on and we see how it all works out." 

"I'll endeavor to make sure that I do everything I can to convince you," he leaned down and kissed her, setting about to do just that. 

The rest would come in time; living together and teaching together. They had already started a life together and this was just one more piece of the puzzle. No matter how long they stayed here at the palace or made a home where Numair lived when he wasn't helping the king, Daine was content to follow him.

"We'll have to add your name under mine," Numair murmured in her ear, pulling away slightly from a particularly heated moment of kissing. "So that everyone knows that you're here with me." His grip on her tightened slightly and she heard the unspoken  _ that you're mine _ and she didn't begrudge him one bit for that possessiveness. She was feeling that herself and wasn't in a mind to share. 

"Sounds good," she leaned up and kissed him again, taking in the heated expression in his eyes. "But that's a later thing. You have something to convince me of."

"So I do, magelet-- so I do." 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> One of the first fandoms I wrote for was the Tortall series and this was one of my first pairings. Way way back in the early years! I've always loved this series and always loved this couple, and I wanted to revisit this world once again.


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